Taliban defy Pak Government's curfew, patrols Swat

Peshawar, May 4 (ANI): Armed Taliban militants defied a government curfew and patrolled the main town in Pakistan''s Swat district, after rejecting an Islamic appeals court set up under a peace deal, witnesses have said on Monday.

The government of North West Frontier Province said on Saturday that an Islamic appellate court had been created to serve the three million people who live in Malakand, which includes Swat, under a deal to end a Taliban-led insurgency.

But a Taliban spokesman rejected the new court, charging it had been created without adequate consultation, and condemned an ongoing military assault against Taliban fighters holed up in other districts of Malakand.

Authorities imposed a curfew from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 a.m. in Mingora, the main town in Swat, on Sunday for the first time since signing the February deal with pro-Taliban cleric Sufi Mohammad to try to end nearly two years of violence.

"We had concerns about the law and order situation, that is why the curfew was imposed," the head of the local administration, Khushhal Khan said.

Residents said they saw armed Taliban patrolling the main roads in Mingora late Sunday despite the curfew.

"It is the first time that Taliban have again started armed patrolling in Mingora," The News quoted a resident, as saying. (ANI)